recovery in commercial sector

Knight Frank posts record annual profits

Knight Frank has posted record annual profits, thanks in part to a number of high profile deals and a surge in investor activity. The high end property consultancy, which is owned by its partners, has announced that profit before tax rose by 19 per cent to £162 million in the year to 31st March, while turnover increased by 13 per cent to £443.1 million. The growth in profits was fuelled mainly by a recovery in the commercial sector; the company’s 10 commercial offices across the UK have had “their best year ever”, according to Alistair Elliott (left), Knight Frank’s Group Chairman and Senior Partner. He commented, “In the UK, commercial real estate activity has increased and there is now significant life in the sector. “The regions have spent several years in the doldrums, but we are seeing the commercial lettings market increase, but it must be said this is against a backdrop that has been terrible.” But while the commercial property market was on the up, Knight Frank said that the residential sector delivered a somewhat mixed performance – owed in part to higher stamp duty rates imposed by the Chancellor George Osborne on homes in the upper sector of…

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